30-378 Weatherby with 180 gr bullet speed?

[WEATHERBY460]

What should I expect from a 26" barrel.... a sweet spot speed for the 30-378 with a 180 bullet...thanks

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Every rifle's will have it's own sweet spots. You'll have to figure that out in load development. My 300 RUM shoots 180 E-Tips about 3430 fps with Retumbo. Your 30-378 should get close to 3500 I would think.

 

[WEATHERBY460]

im at 3200fps with h1000...just wondering how hard to push them

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

If you believe the reloding books (who would do that?) you will top out between 3250 and 3350 fps for both the 300 rum and 30-378 roy. I'm at 3280 fps with a mid-load of rl25 with a 180 in my 26" 300rum, and have gone for more to prove it is there, but I'm in no hurry to tear up my bore.
I'd switch to a bit slower powder like rl33 in your 30-378 and she'll probably come up a couple of hundred fps (to low/mid 3400's)and have good pressures yet.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

I would definitely try a slower powder. Maybe Retumbo. RL33 might be too slow for 180 bullets.

As far as how far you want to push them, that's up to you. I use manuals as guides. I use my rifle and brass to tell me how far to push my loads.

 

[MudRunner2005]

What should I expect from a 26" barrel.... a sweet spot speed for the 30-378 with a 180 bullet...thanks

30-378 Wby is a nasty round! I hope to have one someday. Been wanting one for years.

I would think Retumbo, RL-22, RL-25, and something slower burning would be a good powder for the 30-378 Wby.

I'll look up the different powders Nosler and Berger recommend when I get home from work this afternoon.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

As stated above, your rifle will tell you what it likes very few are the same . You easily beat 3200fps with your particular rig but you may have to switch to a slower powder to do it.

You didn't mention which bullet you were using so I offer this caveat, it has been said & documented that some of the thin jacketed Bergers don't get along with velocities 3250 & up. ESPECIALLY when your bore starts to get rough.


t

 

[Outlaw6.0]

Double Post- Sorry guys



t

 

[Broz]

it has been said & documented that some of the thin jacketed Bergers don't get along with velocities 3250 & up. ESPECIALLY when your bore starts to get rough.

I think most of these problems have been with 8 and 9 twist tubes and over 3300 fps. At least that's what I have seen and read.

Never heard the "rough bore" thing. But do believe 3 grove rifling and a fast twist is asking for trouble with any thin jacketed bullet. I did have a 30-378 with a rough bore. It would go from a .5 moa rifle to a 2.0 moa rifle in 10 to 15 rounds with solid copper bullets. Switched it to 210 Bergers and cleaned every 50 rounds. I have had a few factory barreled rifle that were like this. All Weatherby's and all were with lighter offering solid copper bullets at big velocities. This was one of the reasons I moved away from solids.

As for the velocity from a 26" 30-378, you should be able to get to 3450 with 180's. Back when I was hung up on velocity and trying to kill every rifle I got my hands on, I got to 3700 once with 168's in a 26" 30-378. The brass was a 2 shot and toss em deal. Got kinda expensive. If you go solids in the 30-378 above 3250 get some BoreTech CU+2 for copper removal and lots of patches.

If you go up there in the 3300 to 3400 range with 180's have lots of brass stocked up. Those Norma primer pockets are not going to take it long.

Jeff

 

[WEATHERBY460]

I have a great load for 190 bergers (3115fps)....i am now playing with 180 accubonds for the heck of it...

I am looking for a faster/flatter bullet out to about 750...i think i can push the accubonds faster then the bergers.....i have also tried the 230 bergers and cant get them to shoot at all good for some reason......so i am going the other way